Black as the Night
by Menno Simons
Summary: Nathaniel is a son of the proud Gray clan, and seeks to do his heritage proud. Watch as he travels the region of Dante with his pokemon.
1. Commencement Ceremony

Nathaniel stood in his backyard in front of his entire family. His father stood behind him, and the rest relatives sat in chairs ahead of him, watching their brother, son, cousin, nephew or grandson receive his first pokemon at the age of ten, just as every other firstborn in their family had done.

"And now, as my son and protégé comes of age, I present him with his very own pokemon, with which to carry on the family name. Go out, young Nathaniel, and make the Gray Clan proud." His father said in a very pompous voice. He handed Nathaniel a Greatball containing his first pokemon. As per tradition, Nathaniel turned to his relatives and released the pokemon. A flash of crimson energy burst from the ball, revealing a small, blue pokemon with red spots on its back and a cream coloured underbelly. A Cyndaquil.

The Gray clan stood up and clapped, just as they had done for every other child from their family to go on a pokemon journey. Nathaniel left the yard, head held high, and out onto the streets of his hometown, Firebrick Town. His younger cousins pressed against the white fence surrounding his yard to get a better look at their favourite relative. Nathaniel was very popular with his younger relatives, because he, unlike the other firstborns, always seemed to have time to listen to them, or tell them a story.

Inside Nathaniel's pack were the tools of a trainer of the old school. He didn't have a pokedex, or pokegear, or anything else like that. Instead he had a tome with the Gray clan symbol inscribed on the cover, which contained all the information of the Dante region, including Pokemon. He also had small pouches full of herbs that could heal pokemon. Around his neck he wore a necklace that was attached to a small phial. The phial contained a powerful potion that could heal pokemon status problems that his grandparents had given him. He could always refill it with the ingredients in his pack.

Nathaniel had tangled blond hair and pale skin. His eyes were grey, and he wore simple white clothing. He kept his pokeballs on a sash that ran across his chest, and his backpack was old and made of black leather. Nathaniel's belt was black as well, and he had a knife in it that had been given to him by his father the night before. Beside it was a grapple hook attached to a rope, and a small slingshot with a bag of pebbles.

-POKEMON-

Nathaniel's Cyndaquil sat in an open flap of backpack as he jogged down the pathway from Firebrick Town to Azure City. His tome said that it was about a week's journey from where he was now.

After travelling for several hours, Nathaniel asked his Cyndaquil a question. "Cyndaquil, I think I should give you a name. It doesn't seem right to just call you 'Cyndaquil'." Nathaniel paused, trying to think of a name. "How about Blaze?"

Cyndaquil nodded in agreement. "Blaze it is then." Nathaniel said, happy that his pokemon agreed with him.

Nathaniel and Blaze travelled for a few more hours, not running into any trainers due to the remoteness of Firebrick Town. Just as they were making up camp, Nathaniel heard a growl from the brush, and a Rattata leapt from underneath a leaf, followed by a Meowth that was chasing it. Nathaniel had no interest in the Rattata, but the Meowth looked like it could be useful to him. He whipped out his slingshot and fired a pebble right in front of the Meowth, stopping it dead in its tracks.

"Blaze! Attack with Tackle!" he told his new partner, and the Cyndaquil burst towards the wild pokemon, slamming it full force. Meowth tried to scramble out of the battle zone, but was stopped by another pebble. It whirled around, but Blaze slammed into it again, and this time, it didn't get up. Nathaniel tossed a pokeball at the wild pokemon, and a flash of red swallowed it up, followed by a loud ping.

"Yes! We caught it!" Nathaniel exclaimed, and Blaze jumped into his arms. They were really gonna make it at this training thing.


	2. Master Arvin

A/N: I get my Pokemon tome entries from Wikipedia and Bulbapedia. You can skip over them if you want, they'll be in italics. You don't have to read them, but they're interesting, or at least I think so.

Nathaniel entered the Azure Town Pokemon Centre and handed his pokemon to the Chansey before slumping into a chair. He was about to drift into sleep when he heard a familiar voice. It was his cousin, Trey!

"Hey, Nate! I didn't think you'd make it here this fast! I wanted to be at your commencement ceremony but I got delayed."

Trey was Nathaniel's favourite cousin, and he'd left on his journey with a Rattata three years before. He had black hair and grey eyes that looked like small shards of steel.

"Listen, I have to head to Glory Falls right away, but I've got something for you." Trey said as he rummaged through a large grey backpack full of at least two of everything, or so Nathaniel thought. He finally pulled out a Greatball and handed it to Nathaniel, who looked at it, not quite sure he understood.

"It's a going away present, even if it is a bit late. Sorry, but I think you'll like it!" Trey explained as his cousin turned the ball over in his palm before finally pressing the release button. A flash of energy appeared, and it took the form of a small, fat yellow pokemon. A Psyduck!

"Its name is Wellington. I caught it a while back but just kept it in my bag. I didn't use it at all so it's still at a low level."

Nathaniel looked back at Wellington, and then turned to his cousin. "Thanks!"

After a few minutes of small talk, Trey had to run off to Glory Falls, leaving Nathaniel on his own again. The Psyduck didn't need to be healed, so he simply stayed with Nathaniel to get better acquainted.

Wellington just sat there for a while until he finally drifted off to sleep, and Nathaniel did the same thing. The Chansey woke him when she came to return his pokemon, and he decided to stay in the Pokemon Centre for a few hours, even though it was almost daybreak.

When Nathaniel did leave the Centre, he headed towards a tall tower he'd passed when he entered the town. The building was made of wood and looked to be about fifteen stories high, with windows all the way up. In front of it was a sign that read: **Azure Town Pokemon Temple.**

When he opened the door, however he was amazed by what he saw. There weren't fifteen floors, but only the ground floor and an incredibly high ceiling. Along one wall were bookshelves that went about thirty feet up and had ladders along the sides. Among the titles were _Grass Pokemon and Where to Find Them_, _History of Azure Town,_ and _Ancient Leaf, the Autobiography of Temple Master Arvin._

All around the temple grass pokemon were training, and in the centre of the building a wizened old man wearing the robes of a Temple master sat on the floor.

Nathaniel remembered what his parents had told him about temples. Each one specialized in a specific type of pokemon, and if you could beat the temple master you would receive a pokemon of that type that couldn't be found anywhere else.

Judging by the pokemon all over the tower, this temple's specialty was Grass type. Glooms and Tangelas inhabited the building, and Weepinbells hung from the roof. Nathaniel walked toward the temple master and spoke out in a calm voice, masking his fear.

"I challenge you to a Temple Battle!" he exclaimed, and the man stood up to reply. He wore green robes and an ornate headdress covered in Razor Leaves.

"I accept." He croaked. " The battle will be with to pokemon each. You may substitute, but I may not." The master threw out a Greatball that opened to reveal a Tropius. It was brown with great leaves growing from its back and had a long neck. Nathaniel flipped open his pokemon tome and quickly found the entry for the pokemon immediately.

_ Tropius's natural habitat is the __jungles__ of the southern tropics. It is a 'fructivore', thriving on __fruit__. It is theorized that Tropius's love of fruit eventually resulted in the species incorporating fruit as part of its very anatomy. It may also be that Tropius eats so much fruit that it gets an excess of vitamins and minerals, so it grows fruit to get rid of excess nutrients._

_Bunches of __banana__-like fruit can be seen growing under a Tropius's neck. These fruit are deliciously sweet and particularly popular among the children in south tropical villages, which eat it as __snacks_

_It may also be possible that male Tropius use their bananas to attract mates, bigger bananas means healthier Tropius, it may also be an indication of how plentiful the food is in Tropius' territory._

_Tropius also has broad leaves on its back, which, if flapped hard enough, can be used as wings, enabling this bulky Pokemon to fly._

_Tropius has some slightly above average stats, like Hit Points and defenses and some slightly below average stats, such as attack and speed. The Sunny Day move may prove beneficial while using a Tropius: its Chlorophyll ability will double its speed, it will be able to use the powerful Grass-type Solarbeam attack consecutively and the Synthesis move will restore its health completely. On the other hand, Sunny Day will also double the power of Fire-type attacks, against which Tropius is weak._

_Other moves commonly used in Tropius move sets include Giga Drain and Steel Wing to cover its other weaknesses, against Water/Ice and Rock or Ground-type Pokemon respectively_.

Nathaniel skimmed over the long entry that didn't really help him much. Anyhow, he used Blaze because he had a type advantage and was the only pokemon that he had used in battle before.

"Use Ember!" Nathaniel told his pokemon, and Blaze was happy to comply. Small flames burst out from the red spots on his back, scorching the Tropius.

Blaze was blown back by a Razor leaf attack, and then a Tackle attack. He got up though, and retaliated with another set of Ember attacks. Just as Tropius was about to launch a potentially devastating Razor Leaf, Blaze threw himself at his opponent with a Tackle attack, knocking down the Tropius, and attempted to finish off his opponent with a final round of Ember attacks, but the bulky pokemon dodged the attack with surprising agility. Just as the Tropius was about to defeat blaze with a Steel Wing attack, Nathaniel recalled is pokemon and threw out another ball without looking. It didn't matter anyway, neither one had any battle experience.

The crimson energy dissipated and in its place stood a Psyduck. Wellington! "Use Scratch, Wellington!" Nathaniel called out, and the Psyduck waddled over to the giant grass type and swiped at it with his tiny claws. After about a second the Tropius swatted away the annoyance with a flick of its powerful neck and lay down on the floor. The Psyduck struggled to get up, and when it couldn't its eyes began to glow and the Tropius was suddenly flung backwards by some unseen force. It was a Confusion attack! The Tropius was knocked out! It had only a few scorch marks and maybe a bruise on its head from being thrown across the tower, but it was defeated!

The ancient temple master looked shocked but tried to conceal it as he threw out a second pokemon, a Tangela.

"Tangela! Attack with Constrict!" Arvin commanded, and vines burst from its spaghetti-like body and wrapped themselves around Wellington. Nathaniel tried to recall him, but the Constrict prevented him from doing so. He could tell that Wellington would pass out soon from the pressure on his lungs. It was now or never.

"Wellington! Attack with Confusion!" Nathaniel told his pokemon, and for a minute it looked like he was going to. The Psyduck's eyes began to glow, but the light quickly left them and the Psyduck merely hung in the Tangela's vines until he passed out. The pokemon released him and Nathaniel switched the pokemon for Blaze, who was almost finished as well.

"Blaze! Attack with Ember!" he told his pokemon, who decided to ignore the order and jump away from a Razor Leaf attack that Nathaniel hadn't seen. It landed several feet away and then spurted a Smokescreen attack at his opponent, temporarily blinding it. While the Tangela tried to find its opponent, Blaze took this time to launch several successful Ember attacks at it. When the smoke finally cleared, however, the Tangela promptly finished the bout by holding it with Constrict until it passed out, much like it did to Wellington, except that Blaze actually attempted to struggle.

"Good attempt, young one. You did better than I would have expected." Arvin commended him, but Nathaniel still felt bad. His cousin Trey, his father and his mother all won their first Temple challenge, and he'd just been beaten handily by an old codger rumored to be the weakest of all the masters.

He picked up his pokeballs and stormed out of the tower, forgetting to heal his pokemon and instead he ran right out of Azure Town and headed north, towards Lightning Lake City.


	3. Encounter with a Pokemon Rustler

A/N: once again, my tome entries come from Wikipedia, and aren't necessary to read. Thanks for every one who reviewed.

DJ Takuya: There are four families in the Gray clan, Sagittarius, Gray, Flores and Batu. Trey is a Sagittarius, and so is Nathaniel. Sagittarius start with rodents, Gray start with felines, Flores with canine and Batu with equine pokemon. Hope that answers you're coincidence or tradition question.

"Hey, you! This here is my land you're on, and that means that you're trespassing!" came a voice from behind Nathaniel, and he turned around to see a man with plain clothes, a scruffy beard and dark eyes. He had three pokeballs on his belt, and a Raichu behind him.

"I see you've got pokemon. I'll take those off your hands, and then we'll be square for your trespassing!" the man said as he stepped towards Nathaniel.

"No!" Nathaniel replied as he threw out his Meowth's pokeball, the only pokemon still able to fight.

"Hah! Raichu, Thunderbolt now!" the man commanded his pokemon, and an arc of electricity hit Meowth and sent her flying.

Nathaniel began to cry. His Meowth was seriously injured, his other pokemon were passed out, and now this man was going to take all his pokemon. Snot dribbled out of his nose as he threw himself at the man, knocking him over.

"Hey!" the man exclaimed, throwing Nathaniel off of him. "You'll pay for that! Raichu! Thunder bolt!"

The bolt narrowly missed, but the pokemon shot another blast that hit him straight on. "Augh!" Nathaniel screamed as volt after volt of electricity coursed through him until Raichu finally stopped.

The man threw out a pokeball of his own, and a Growlithe appeared, snarling. "Fetch me that boy's pokeballs, boy."

The Growlithe trotted over and grabbed Nathaniel's belt. Then he picked up the Meowth in his teeth and carried them to his trainer.

"N-no! I w-won't let you!" Nathaniel croaked. Just as the Raichu was about to hit him with another Thunderbolt attack, a pile of sand was flung up a Sandshrew mound, knocking Raichu over.

"Sandshrew!" the creature exclaimed as it repeatedly Scratched its opponent.

"Hey! Get off my Raichu, you rodent!" the man yelled, and he threw out his final pokemon, which turned out to be a Sandslash!

"Slash attack!" the man ordered, and the Sandslash swiped the wild pokemon across the chest, leaving long, bleeding gashes.

Then the Sandshrew shot a barrage of sharp needles at its more powerful opponent.

Suddenly the Growlithe came out of nowhere and slammed into the Sandshrew, finishing the bout. The bearded man recalled all three of his pokemon and ran off. However, the Sandshrew must have gotten a final burst of strength, because he shot two Poison Stings at the man. Both punctured his neck and caused him to fall to the ground, poisoned.

Nathaniel got up and made his way to the man and got his pokeballs back. His whole body hurt, and he had a long slash along his back where the thunderbolt had connected.

The Sandshrew that had saved him lay on the ground, nearly dead. Nathaniel figured that he owed him something, and the least he could do was take him to a Pokemon Centre. He held out an empty pokeball and pressed the Capture button, a beam of energy swallowing the pokemon and turning him into a light molecule.

Nathaniel handed his four pokeballs to the lady behind the desk in the Cyan City pokemon centre. Then a nurse rushed him into the emergency room to care for his wounds. The last thing he remembered was the smell of soap in the large chamber before passing out.

He awoke on a small cot in the emergency room of the pokemon centre and got up, stretching his joints. He still hurt all over, but at least now he was bandaged up. He strolled down to the front counter and questioned the nurse.

"Are my pokemon all right? Can I have them back now?"

The nurse nodded twice and handed him a tray with four balls on it. He attached each one and then sat down in a comfortable chair to check his tome. He flipped through it to entry number 207, Sandshrew.

_Sandshrew is a short, yellow, __rodent__-like creature, covered in scales and with clawed paws. Its eyes are large and black._

_Sandshrew's natural environment is deep underground in arid, sandy locations with very little __moisture__, the __desert__ being the best example. It chooses this __habitat__ to keep its hide as dry and tough as possible, while the sand also provides it with a good __camouflage_

_Sandshrew emerges from its burrow only when hunting. It lurks by the opening to its nest, its body blending with the surrounding soil. If prey approaches close enough, it lunges, grabs the victim, and carries it with it back to its nest, where it eats it._

_When threatened, Sandshrew's primary means of defense is to instantly curl up its body into a ball, leaving only its tough skin exposed. When it is rolled up like this, Sandshrew has the potential to withstand many attacks, as well as being dropped from a great height._

_Despite its aversion to water, even Sandshrew needs it in order to survive. Its __metabolism__ is configured in such a way so that it can absorb water with minimal waste, allowing Sandshrew to get by with small quantities of it_.

He then flipped to find his other three pokemon's information, which he hadn't looked up yet. He already knew about Cyndaquil because it was one of his favorites, but knew very little about Meowth or Psyduck.

Nathaniel was disappointed to find out that there was little to know about Psyduck.

_Psyduck is a pre-evolution of __Golduck__, and possesses water, physical, and psychic attacks. Its expression is a constant empty stare. Despite psychic attacks being its trademark, Psyduck is not a Psychic-type Pokemon._

Nathaniel was able to find out more about his Meowth, however.

_Meowth has a distinctly __feline__ appearance, resembling a small __housecat__. It has tan-colored fur, which turns brown at its paws and tail tip. Its oval-shaped head features prominent __whiskers__, black-and-brown ears and a gold oval coin (also known as "charm") embedded in its forehead. Female Meowths have eyelashes._

_Meowth is an __urban__nocturnal__ Pokemon. It spends most of the daytime sleeping and prowls the city streets at night. When hunting, Meowths organize themselves in groups that act like gangs, foraging or stealing food from people. They are aided in their mischief by their eyes, which allow them __night vision__. They also slink their claws back into their paws, which grants them silent movement and protecting them from leaving distinctively incriminating paw prints that alert people to their actions._

_Like the Murkrow, Meowth is attracted to certain objects that catch its attention, which it collects at every opportunity and __hoards__ in its nest. Meowth loves __round__ shaped objects, as well as shiny, glittering things. The item it adores collecting the most, however, is __coins__, since they are both round and shiny. Meowth is known to scour the __pavements__ for dropped loose change and even to openly steal money from people to add to its collection._

_In battle, Meowth can throw the coins it has accumulated at its opponents with the Pay Day attack, a technique unique only to its evolution chain. If the player wins, the scattered coins are picked up from the ground and are added to his account as __profit_

"Hey, kid! Want to battle? Or are you chicken?" a boy asked Nathaniel. The boy had black hair and wore a vest with no undershirt, and his eyes were like bits of silver.

"I'm not afraid."

"Then prove it! I challenge you to a pokemon battle. You can use two, but I'm so good I'll only need one!"

A few minutes later the two boys were standing across from each other, a small crowd beginning to gather around them.

"Let's go, Ekans!" the boy called, and the purple snake pokemon appeared from within his pokeball.

"You can do it Blaze!" Nathaniel yelled, and his Cyndaquil burst out of the pokeball to take on this new challenge. "Use Ember attack!" Nathaniel yelled, and Blaze was happy to oblige. Small flames blasted out from his spots, scorching the Ekans.

Then the snake darted forward, snapping its jaw down on Blaze's snout, causing him to bleed.

"Return!" Nathaniel said as he called back Blaze and replaced him with Meowth. "Meowth! Use Fury Swipes!"

The cat pokemon slashed at its opponent with a fury, nearly winning the battle with only one attack. However, Ekans rallied with a surprisingly powerful Frustration attack. (Secret message for those who know what this attack is).

Meowth finally ended the bout with a Bite attack, cutting huge holes into Ekans long body.

After all three pokemon were healed, the boy who had challenged him came up to Nathaniel.

"Do you want to trade?" he asked.

"You mean Pokemon?"

"Well duh. I'll trade my Ekans to you for your Meowth!" the boy offered.

Nathaniel wasn't overly attached to his Meowth, because he'd only had him for a couple of days, so he accepted the offer. He'd always wanted an Ekans like his father had. The two kids shook hands, swapped pokeballs and headed up to their rooms for some shut-eye. Tomorrow was another big day, and they needed their rest.


End file.
